Listen to this sermon HERE.
Two brothers fighting it out. [whining] “Tell my brother to give me that.” But these are not little boys fighting and whining. They’re grown men. And they’re not fighting over a toy; they’re fighting over the family inheritance.” Trying to draw Jesus into it. (Remember triangulation with the two sisters?)
There are many things that are instructive about this Gospel text today, but what occurs to me is that the one who’s getting treated unfairly, the one who actually has a case, I think, the one who’s getting none of the family inheritance, is the one who prompts Jesus‘ parable. The corrective story is for the brother who’s getting the raw end of the deal! I think you and I could figure out some ways we are that brother, the one getting cheated.
Think about it for a moment: How many ways are you getting the short end of the stick in this life? How have you been sucker punched in this economic boxing ring?
I don’t know about you, by my prayer to God can sometimes sound a lot like this brother who’s getting stiffed. “God, tell the government to give me my fair share of my paycheck. God, tell the housing market to give me my fair share of the equity. Jesus, tell the credit card companies, the banks to give me my fair share of interest — which would be way more than what I’m getting now. Teacher, tell that shop keeper and that grocer and that barber to stop jacking up their prices and give me what I want for a fair price!”
Can we be as whiny in our prayer life as this brother who simply wants his fair share...and who goes to the source to ask for it? I mean, we can write some pretty articulate and eloquent prayers, but can their content be just as whiny?
But Jesus doesn’t get roped into arbitration. He seizes upon the bigger picture. When this man and (if we’re honest) you and me are caught up in this act, in this lifestyle of pining and whining for what we don’t have, for what’s owed to us, for how we got wronged and how others deserve a scolding and more, then we are getting caught in what Ecclesiastes calls the “unhappy business” of life...then we are no longer “on guard,” as Jesus would warn, “against all kin‘a greed.”
Your life does not consist in the abundance of possessions, Jesus reminds us. Your life does not consist in the abundance of possessions. Beware of storing up treasures.
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| The Rich Fool • 30"X40" • oil/canvas • by James B. Janknegt |
And here’s the good news: God through Jesus has freed us in the life hereafter and even in this life, even today — God through Christ has freed us from the “unhappy business” of pining and whining...because we have been promised something much greater in our baptism: richness toward God — faith.
Faith is a gift given to us in baptism. It’s nothing you have to buy, it’s nothing you have to earn. It’s just given freely to you and to me. And this is a antibody against the virus of greed: FAITH. This will protect us from pining and whining, sisters and brothers in Christ!
This “word of God, word of life” today is like finding a most wonderful letter in the attic, or the closet, or top shelf of the garage hidden among all the junk. Colossians: You have been buried and raised with Christ, so you don’t have to keep living in a state of fear and scarcity and sadness and bitterness and clenching on to tightly to what you have, even if you have very little. Because you have been buried (first) and then raised with Christ, this long-lost letter says, because you have been given this greatest treasure that is faith, then you are renewed this day, free to live in the image of God who created you!
How do we cultivate a field of gratitude, when there are fields and fields of “pining and whining” all around us? How, sisters and brothers in Christ, can we be even better farmers of thanksgiving? (I say even better because there is so much generosity in this place. I have learned so much about giving from you. We had our young adult camping trip this weekend, and we spent some time around the campfire talking and laughing about this place. And it was about the people here —Anita and Dusty and Rodney and Stephanie. And it was to me a celebration of how generous you people are at Shepherd of the Valley, from the eyes of young adults in their 20s and 30s. We’re watching.) It’s not that we’re not already farmers of thanksgiving, cultivating fields and lives of generosity and seeing the abundance even when times are lean. This text is calling us back, and challenging us even more in our generosity, that is, in our “joyful releasing”. How can we even better share our gifts, our treasures, our inheritances, our possessions...rather than locking so much up in our barns...like that man with lots of money in the parable? And what are ways that we can remain generous, gracious and thankful even when that same generosity and fairness doesn’t seem to be extended to us by the world?
Jesus frees us to let go...of our possessions. They were never ours in the first place. And if you died tomorrow, which could happen to any of us here, if you died tomorrow, would you have shared your things in this life in a way that reflects the God who loves and creates you anew? Jesus frees us from greed. And fear. Jesus‘ gift of faith, given freely in baptism, is the antidote to our anger and our bitterness.
Pastor Tod Bolsinger offers a few suggestions on his blog for cultivating generosity: “Hang out with generous people. It will rub off on you.” I suppose that implies the opposite then too: keep an emotional distance from those who are not farmers of thanksgiving. I’ve noticed that bitter people can rub off on me also. Hang out with generous people. (Looks like you’re in the right place.)
He also suggests practicing generosity (fake it ‘til you make it, I suppose. Studies: this works with self-confidence...how about generosity?): “Leave a big tip when you go out to dinner. Buy [fair trade coffee] and give it to your neighbors. Buy a struggling young man a new suit or offer to pay the rent for someone who needs a helping hand. And then thank them. Tell them that you are doing it for yourself, and that they are doing you a favor. Then find something that you are hanging on to a little too tight and just give it to someone. Give away your [porcelain doll collection, or your baseball cards, or favorite shirt], or whatever. Empty your wallet in the offering plate just for the experience of doing so. Write the biggest check you can ever imagine to some work of God in the world, and watch how there is still food on your table. And don’t ask for any recognition for it, because this is helping you. Reorganize your finances so that the first tenth of every bit of income that comes in your door goes to the work of God. I mean really tithe. Look at it as a whole lot better deal than the rich [landlord] got.”
How is this sitting with you? I don’t really like it these suggestions. Because I’m kind of stingy. But I’m trying to trust in the gift that’s been given to me — faith, “richness toward God”. Let’s stick together, sisters and brothers in Christ, let’s encourage one another and keep practicing generosity together, knowing that God stays with us through it all! AMEN.
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